Aloha Akita Snow

Snow has finally arrived at Akita. I have seen snow a few times time before in Japan, but this is the first time that I will be experiencing what it is like to live in the snow. Right now the ground has become really wet because all of the snow on the ground, and it has become really cold. Recently, I have started sleeping with my long underwear and a long sleeve shirt because it is really cold in my room.

Snow outside my dormitory

My roommate and me had bought oil to use for the heater recently, but we are trying to not use it that much. Before it started snowing, we rarely used the heater despite the cold. Today is the first day of snow, so I not am sure if we are going to use the heater yet. Our blankets has kept us pretty warm at night and we usually stay at the library, so we may not need to use the heater yet.

Compared to Hawaii, it seems nice to finally experience what it is like to live in the snow, but according to my friends, within a few weeks from now, I will get tired of the snow. Some of my friends do not like the snow because the snow prevents us from doing fun activities outside.

My other friends like the snow because they either grew up in it or because they prefer the coldness over the heat. I know some people that are wearing shorts despite the coldness, but my body is not used to the coldness yet, so I usually wear multiple pieces of clothing when I walk outside.

In Hawaii, the weather is a lot warmer, but it rarely changes, so I am unable to enjoy the beauty of the four seasons. There are usually a lot of bugs during the winter, and the sun goes down earlier. However, in Akita, it gets really dark at around 5pm, and I heard the snow can get as high as 5 feet.

As for me, I am definetly excited for the snow because I want to do things like learn how to snow board or ski, make a snow man, or even try to make shave ice with the falling snow. However, I am also not looking forward to the snow because there is a lot of things I will not be able to do such as fix my bicycle until it stops snowing around Spring.

Besides the snow, on Sunday, I went to a school party sponsored by the Japanese Conversations Friends Club. The Japanese Conversation Friends Club is a club at Akita International University (AIU) where I can practice exchange languages and Japanese and other International students. The club meets at least once a week for an hour, but I usually do not go to these events because of other committments.

These guys are playing a game similar to Rock-Paper-Scissors

My friends and I are make rice balls

At the Japanese Conversation Friends Club event, I got to eat and socialize with some of the elders, make rice balls, and sing a Japanese folk song. In addition, some of us, international students gave presentations about our home town.

My friend from the University of Hawaii and I gave a presentation about Hawaii. We talked about the places to shop at, language, music, and food. For the presentation, we were unable to use a power point because there was no projector at the place where the party was at, and we had to speak in Japanese. Therefore my friend played a song with his ukulele, while I brought haupia (pudding made from coconut milk). 

Homemade Haupia

  
Everyone liked our presentation, and they enjoyed eatting the haupia that I made. Here is the script and a link from youtube for the song that we sang.